By necessity thread taps are very hard and brittle. Any side loading when turning them can cause them to fracture. Jody's tips are valuable IME and I too thank him for sharing his expertise and real world experience.

FWIW in some of Jody's videos he shows the use of chill blocks for thin materials including aluminum. Sometimes the blocks just rest on the piece being welded or the piece is placed on top of the block. He has also made a clamped device and used copper wire, etc. to draw heat away so a piece isn't o...

Hope the new gas lens resolves your issues. I recall in a video that Jody recommends using AC for silicon bronze Tig brazing. If I recall you can turn the settings to minimal cleaning action if your machine allows. If not the default AC settings should still work fine but it may require a little hig...

When you first start welding it's more like melting metal together than a controlled welding process, at least IME. As such you are correct that it's easy to burn the beginning and ending edges away. All of the suggestions by other folks are valid and useful. What you will learn with practice is how...

Jody has some really good videos on TIG showing a tight vs. long arc, keeping the filler rod tip in the gas shielding and using a minimal torch angle. These three things along with properly cleaned parts will dramatically improve weld quality IME. A tight arc requires a steady / supported hand. Back...

The filler rod and material being welded can create a more brittle weld joint than the base material itself.

This may be a remote possibility but I recently purchased a new argon cylinder which was suppose to have pure argon in it. It did not. I don't know what gas it had but it was an oxidizing gas that made it impossible to do good TIG welds on any metal. After switching to a new bottle of argon the prob...